Eighteen months after it cleared out of Tamil Nadu with its sole buyer the Nokia factory downing shutters, Taiwanese phone maker Foxconn has now matched the peak job creation levels it had touched while Nokia was operational in Chennai. Foxconn has 12,000 workers now putting smartphones together from inside five factory units of Foxconn in Andhra Pradesh's Sri City. It makes well over one lakh phones a day. Foxconn was one of the large factories to close down in Tamil Nadu and re-emerge within two months across the border in Andhra Pradesh to make smartphones. It started off in a small way, not dissimilar to a trail unit, to make smartphones on contract. As it revved up production, the Centre rolled out a duty structure that made it cheaper to make phones in India than import from China. Called the Phased Manufacturing Programme, the duty incentives restricted to phones were spread across to 14 components that included chargers, adaptors, battery packs, wired handsets. But now, a crucial tax tweak offered over the last two years that incentivised domestic manufacture of electronic items could go with the introduction of GST; an imminent development that is a cause for concern for manufacturers like Foxconn, component producers and other players in the electronics industry. "Foxconn had recently recruited from 13 districts across Andhra Pradesh. Clients include Xiaomi, Oppo, and HMD Global (which is the licenced producer of Nokia-branded smartphones, feature phones and tablets). The company recruited 2,000 workers just in the last one month as client demand is such," said a company official aware of developments at Foxconn. It is not just Foxconn revving ahead. Salcomp, which used to supply power set-ups to the former Nokia factory, has just restarted production at the factory inside the Nokia Telecom SEZ. The company's chief executive officer Markku Hangasjarvi told ET in a recent interaction that the company was planning to "significantly expand Indian operations." Sasikumar Gendham, the India head of the company, told ET: "We have all approvals for our third factory in India but from the state government in Tamil Nadu, which will be obtained soon. Even as we expand operations, the whole supply chain should be aligned properly. For example, under GST, the mobile phones will attract 12 per cent but the charges 28 per cent. Obviously, it cannot be so. The Centre knows about this anomaly and will act, I am sure." Pressure groups working for the continuation of the duty structure under GST regime have been lobbying hard with the Central government. Fast Track Task Force (FTTF), set up with a target to create 15 lakh jobs by 2020 through a 3-lakh crore phone manufacturing industry. Pankaj Mohindroo, national president for FTTF, said: "The Centre is extremely aware and focused on perils of not continuing the duty differential regime under GST. A mechanism is being worked out. Nearly two lakh jobs are on the line. Only July 1, all that has been built for making phones in India will collapse. If the incentives are not perpetuated under GST, it will be the largest reversal from a Make in India standpoint." Union commerce ministry representatives could not be reached for a comment.